Geno Smith, Quarterback, New York Jets
If for some reason you were in a bind, or on a two-quarterback league and had to start Smith in Week 5, fantasy owners would have been better off leaving his spot vacant. In a disastrous performance by Smith, which caused him to be benched for the second half of the game, he only managed 27 passing yards and an interception. Add in zero touchdowns, and fantasy owners walk away with -0.62 points for the day.
Incredibly enough the Jets want to start Smith in Week 6, however, coming off of an exceptionally disappointing performance, Smith is truly not a fantasy option to be considered; even in the deepest of formats.
Matthew Stafford, Quarterback, Detroit Lions
Stafford, when it comes to his fantasy performance from week to week is about as unpredictable as quarterbacks get. Coming off a grand game last week had Stafford in Week 5 doling out another disappointing outing in a close loss to the Buffalo Bills.
Ending Week 5 with 221 yards and just one touchdown coupled with his one interception resulted in a disheartening 5.64 fantasy points. Stafford can’t use the excuse that his top wideout Calvin Johnson’s limitations impacted him, because in the previous week, Stafford was plenty effective barely even looking Johnson’s way.
Probably the best of your quarterback options, Stafford has a desirable matchup against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 6, so look for his numbers to improve next time around.
Ben Roethlisberger, Quarterback, Pittsburgh Steelers
If fantasy owners of Roethlisberger banked on the fact that quarterbacks playing against the Jacksonville Jaguars have been quite successful thus far, that stat didn’t pay off for Big Ben in Week 5. Roethlisberger only managed 8.72 fantasy points on what should have been a fabulous opportunity for him to take advantage of the second-worst ranking defense against quarterbacks.
One touchdown, 273 passing yards and a fumble is all Roethlisberger could offer to his disappointed fantasy owners in Week 5. If anyone wants to give Big Ben another chance, Week 6 presents him with the Cleveland Browns’ defense where robbed them for 365 yards back in Week 1.
Joe Flacco, Quarterback, Baltimore Ravens
Coming off of a fancy performance last week against the Carolina Panthers may have swayed fantasy owners to start Flacco on Week 5 against the Colts, who don’t exactly pose a prime threat to opposing quarterbacks. Unfortunately if you took a gamble on Flacco, who almost spent more time on the ground getting sacked, then standing upright, it backfired horribly.
While his passing yards at 235 weren’t awful, zero touchdowns and an interception cost fantasy owners dearly in Week 5. Unfortunately, Flacco failed to connect much with his newest weapon, Steve Smith, resulting in a dismal performance. If you must roll with Flacco again in Week 6, he faces the Buccaneers’ defense who currently allow the fifth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks.
Chris Johnson, Running Back, New York Jets
With the running back pool becoming thinner by the moment due to injuries and such, fantasy owners may have had no other choice than to start Johnson in Week 5. Sadly, and once again, Johnson provided nothing but a disappointing turnout in a blowout loss to the San Diego Chargers.
Only scraping up 24 yards on seven touches and a fumble left Johnson’s owners with a miserable 1.20 fantasy points. If you have no other option than Johnson in Week 6, he’ll play the Denver Broncos who have allowed a total of 544 rushing and receiving yards to running backs this season.
LeSean McCoy, Running Back, Philadelphia Eagles
While McCoy showed improved fantasy stats in Week 5, he’s still performing nowhere near the level to which fantasy owners drafted him for the season. In a matchup against the Rams, McCoy once again couldn’t cross the 100 rushing yard mark, only had five receiving yards and even had a fumble. These numbers along with another scoreless game left fantasy owners of McCoy with only 10.60 fantasy points.
McCoy, who continues to disappoint and frustrate his fantasy owners each week, is bound to break out and you know the time you sit him will be the week he goes wild. In Week 6 the Eagles host the New York Giants, who currently allow running backs the third most fantasy points. Perhaps this will be Shady’s breakthrough day.
Brandon Marshall, Wide Receiver, Chicago Bears
Normally always a must start is Marshall, however fantasy owners would have been far better leaving him on their benches in Week 5 and exploring other options. Marshall laid out another disappointing performance and for the fourth week in a row managed less than 50 yards.
Dealing with the lingering effects of an ankle injury seems to be limiting Marshall, who only had three catches for 44 yards totaling to 7.40 fantasy points for Week 5. Certainly not producing the WR1 numbers for which Marshall was drafted will have fantasy owners who want to give him another opportunity facing the Falcons in Week 6.
Steve Smith, Wide Receiver, Baltimore Ravens
Smith, who has been a fantasy football machine since joining the Baltimore Ravens hit the proverbial fork in the road in a Week 5 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Struggling throughout the entire game, Smith tallied up only 34 yards on five catches losing the ball once along the way, dumping just 6.40 fantasy points on his owners.
Week 5 was an incredibly disappointing time to start Smith, who has rewarded an average of 21.50 fantasy points each week, so far this season. Let’s just hope this was a rare off-day and that Smith will be back on track for a successful outing against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 6.
Keenan Allen, Wide Receiver, San Diego Chargers
Allen, coming off of an excellent performance getting his fantasy owners all excited thinking he finally had a breakthrough, was a horrible disappointment in Week 5. Catching only three of his seven targets for a mere 25 yards and not a touchdown in sight earned owners of Allen just 5.50 fantasy points in Week 5.
Certainly Allen, not earning his keep as a high-end WR2 his fantasy owners expected, is becoming a true frustration. One positive note here is that with all weapons quarterback Philip Rivers has in the offense, Allen over the past two weeks has been his No. 1 target. The fact that Allen remains without a touchdown is worrisome, so we’ll just have to hope that he keeps receiving those targets and finds his way into the end zone, the sooner, the better.
Larry Donnell, Tight End, New York Giants
Wow, Donnell went from “Mr. Three Touchdowns in Week 4” to “Mr. Zero Fantasy Points in Week 5." Surely Donnell was started throughout leagues everywhere by all that owned him. This of course was largely due to his major three-touchdown game the prior week, and partly due to the fact that healthy tight ends are in an extreme shortage these days.
In a terribly disappointing Week 5 fantasy performance, Donnell was only targeted by Eli Manning once, and unfortunately didn’t make anything happen on that pass. Possibly we can blame Donnell’s bad day on the debut of rookie wide receiver, Odell Beckham, stealing the spotlight, or on Manning who only passed for 200 yards. Either way, Donnell should be given another chance as we have all witnessed how well in-sync he usually is with Manning.